History of Manchester United

Manchester United was formed in 1878 as Newton Heath LYR Football Club by the Ca
rriage and Wagon department of the Lancashire and Yorkshire Railway (LYR) depot
at Newton Heath.[15] The team initially played games against other departments a
nd rail companies, but on 20 November 1880, they competed in their first recorde
d match; wearing the colours of the railway company green and gold they were def
eated 60 by Bolton Wanderers' reserve team.[16] By 1888, the club had become a fo
unding member of The Combination, a regional football league. Following the leag
ue's dissolution after only one season, Newton Heath joined the newly formed Foo
tball Alliance, which ran for three seasons before being merged with the Footbal
l League. This resulted in the club starting the 189293 season in the First Divis
ion, by which time it had become independent of the rail company and dropped the
"LYR" from its name.[15] After two seasons, the club was relegated to the Secon
d Division.[15]
A black-and-white photograph of a football team lining up before a match. Four p
layers, wearing dark shirts, light shorts and dark socks, are seated. Four more
players are standing immediately behind them, and three more are standing on a h
igher level on the back row. Two men in suits are standing on either side of the
players.
The Manchester United team at the start of the 190506 season, in which they were
runners-up in the Second Division
In January 1902, with debts of 2,670 equivalent to 250,000 in 2014[nb 1] the club
was served with a winding-up order.[17] Captain Harry Stafford found four local
businessmen, including John Henry Davies (who became club president), each willi
ng to invest 500 in return for a direct interest in running the club and who subs
equently changed the name;[18] on 24 April 1902, Manchester United was officiall
y born.[19][nb 2] Under Ernest Mangnall, who assumed managerial duties in 1903,
the team finished as Second Division runners-up in 1906 and secured promotion to
the First Division, which they won in 1908 the club's first league title. The f
ollowing season began with victory in the first ever Charity Shield[20] and ende
d with the club's first FA Cup title. Manchester United won the First Division f
or the second time in 1911, but at the end of the following season, Mangnall lef
t the club to join Manchester City.[21]
In 1922, three years after the resumption of football following the First World
War, the club was relegated to the Second Division, where it remained until rega
ining promotion in 1925. Relegated again in 1931, Manchester United became a yo-
yo club, achieving its all-time lowest position of 20th place in the Second Divi
sion in 1934. Following the death of principal benefactor John Henry Davies in O
ctober 1927, the club's finances deteriorated to the extent that Manchester Unit
ed would likely have gone bankrupt had it not been for James W. Gibson, who, in
December 1931, invested 2,000 and assumed control of the club.[22] In the 193839 s
eason, the last year of football before the Second World War, the club finished
14th in the First Division.[22]